Easily the coolest notebook of the year, Acer’s Aspire R7
has a dual “Ezel” hinge that lets it quickly go between use as a tablet, a
stand-up all-in-one system and a touch-screen notebook. The ultimate convertible, the R7
has a 15.6-inch HD touch-screen and full notebook keyboard as well as all the
ports and connections you’d expect. Pricing starts at $1,000.

What’s the first thing you notice about Windows 8? For most
it is that the addition of the pull-out Charms menu has been at the expense of
the plain old Start Menu that used to reside in the lower left corner of the
screen. Why not have both? That’s exactly what Start Menu Reviver does.

The software is free and installs a replacement icon right
where the old Start Menu flag was. The download is only 4.8MB so it’s quick to
get and install. Rather than imitating the old Start Menu, Reviver’s software
takes it a step further to something that Microsoft software designers wished
they had thought of.

Getting to your programs is done via the Apps icon in the
lower left corner which extends the Start area to the right with a list of every
program on the system in alphabetical order. It has the expected on-off switch
and search bar, but ReviverSoft extends the idea of the Start Menu with a
battery gauge and clock. On the downside, when the Apps section is extended, it
can take up about a third of the desktop real estate.

The whole thing has the appearance of the Charms Menu, so it
fits right into the new OS. My favorite is the stack of icons on the left that
includes everything from Settings and Network to Recent, Tasks and Run.
There’re also places for opening the Home screen as well as Internet Explorer
and My Computer, An incredibly useful item is the link to the Dashboard for
quickly getting to the Control Panel, email, calendar and more.

It’s very easy to add tiles for other items that are
frequently used and you want front and center. All you do is drag them from the
alphabetical list to an empty tile.

After living with the software for a couple of weeks, the
icons work equally well with a mouse or a touchscreen. Every Windows 8 system
should have Start Menu Reviver not because of some nostalgic view of software,
but because it streamlines getting to your software.

With PCs, Macs and tablets of all description creeping into
the school, it makes sense to protect them all in one place. That place just
might be McAfee’s LiveSafe software. An online system, LiveSafe works with an
unlimited number and variety of systems, and only excludes Chromebooks and
Windows Phones. The system provides. In addition to the expected virus, spyware
and phishing protection, LiveSafe has a 2-way firewall, identity protection and
content controls. It can even be set up to recognize your face or voice. The
service costs $20 for the first year and $79 per year after that.

If you think
that only Apple and Android have school-ready tablets, think again. Microsoft’s
Windows 8 not only works well with the latest slate designs, but it offers the unparalleled
advantage of allowing schools to continue to use their favorite programs
without having to spend a penny on new software.

Two of the
most recent Win 8 school slates are Acer’s Iconia W700P and Dell’s Latitude 10.
They both use the latest software, have touch screens and were designed to be
used on the desktop and in the hand. After that, they differ widely.

For instance,
the Latitude 10 has a 10.1-inch screen and starts at $499 but gets expensive
when you add in all the accessories needed. By contrast, the W700P has a larger
11.6-inch display and comes with everything you’ll need to use it to teach and
learn for $1,050.

When you add
together all that’s needed, the price tags are closer than you might think.

Acer Iconia W700P

With its matte
silver edging and long narrow format, Acer’s Iconia W700P presents a more
formal look for school slates. It also raises the bar on cost but is as close
to a complete teaching tool as exists.

The slate
features a large 11.6-inch touch screen that can display full 1,920 by 1,080 HD
resolution, making it just as good for watching video as viewing digital
images. It outdoes the Latitude 10 in size and resolution, offering more than
25-percent more workspace. It, however, wasn’t as bright as the Latitude 10’s
display.

Its long,
narrow screen is just as good for working through long essays as it is for scroll
through interminable Web pages. The display is sensitive to 10 independent
inputs compared to the Latitude 10’s five finger input. It works well with
gestures and responded precisely to an off-the-shelf stylus. The W700P comes
with a well-designed stylus that actually looks and feels like a real pen.

Its display is
made of super-tough Gorilla Glass and around its edge there are buttons to turn
it on, adjust the volume and lock the screen’s orientation. There’s also a Windows
Home key.

The W700P leads
the Latitude 10 in size and weight, and that’s not such a good thing. It weighs
in at 2.1-pounds and measures 0.5- by 11.6- by 7.5-inches. That’s more than 40
percent larger and a third heavier than the Latitude 10. Overall, it feels a
little big and heavy for small hands, but can be a great tool for teachers and high-school
students.

Inside is a
high-performance computer that will put many notebook and desktop PCs at school
to shame. It’s all built around a Core i5 3317U processor that has two cores
and a speed of 1.7GHz. With Intel’s TurboBoost technology, it can run as fast
as 2.6GHz if needed. The system comes with 4GB of RAM and a generous 128GB of
solid state flash storage. Like the Latitude 10, the W700P has a Trusted
Platform Module for airtight remote access.

With two
cameras – a high resolution one in the front and a 1,280 by 720 in the back –
the WD700P can be used for video conferences with parents or making classroom
movies. The system has Dolby Home Audio and a pair of speakers on the bottom of
the slate.

While it
lacks a VGA port, the W700P makes up for it with a micro-HDMI connection; the
system includes an adapter for a VGA projector. It worked well with a
Mitsubishi WD390U-EST projector as well as USB and wireless keyboards. The
W700P, though, lacks WiDi for wirelessly sending images and audio to a display.

The best part
about the W700P is that the $1,050 package I looked at comes with everything
you’ll need to teach and learn, including the stylus, adapters and a nice dock
that has can be set up vertically or horizontally. It has 3 USB 3.0 ports and can
be a little tricky getting the slate in and out. Once you learn to slide it
horizontally, into and out of the dock it gets much easier.

The system
also includes a padded gray case that’s covered with in soft faux suede. The
slate snaps in and there’s a Bluetooth keyboard that can make typing a grade
report much easier than using the W700P’s on-screen keyboard. The whole package
does a good imitation of a notebook and weighs 3.4-pounds.

The system’s
performance was exceptional and better than most school notebooks. It scored a
1,605.0 on Passmark’s PerformanceTest 8.0, 7-times the score of the Latitude
10. Its 4,850 milli-amp hour battery was able to power the machine for a
reasonable 5 hours and 30 minutes, of continuous use. This should translate
into a full day of use, but is four hours short of the Latitude 10’s incredible
battery life. Unfortunately, like the Latitude 10, the battery can’t be
changed.

While others
skimp on the expected items, Acer excels at them, providing more value. In
addition to Windows 8 Pro, the W700P includes a 2-year warranty. If you add
that plus the case, configuration differences and the stylus together, the two
systems are actually very close in price.

The bonus is
the W700P’s great large screen and ability to fit right into the classroom.

At roughly
the size and weight of an iPad, Dell’s Latitude 10 squeezes a lot of PC into a
thin tablet, but compared to the Iconia W700P it cuts too many configuration
corners and gets expensive quickly when you add in the needed accessories.

At
1.4-pounds, it is much lighter than the W700P and it is only 0.4-inches thick.
The system takes up 10.7- by 7.0-inches of precious desktop space, making it
good for side-by-side work. The Latitude 10 is smaller in every dimension; it
also has a 10.1-inch display versus the 11.6-inch screen on the W700P.

On the other
hand, the Latitude 10 has comfortable cut-outs for hands and its rubberized
coating feels better than the W700P’s cold metallic surface. In all, the system
can more comfortably be handled and used by smaller children.

At
10.1-inches, the Latitude 10’s screen is not only smaller than the W700P’s, but
is not made of Gorilla Glass. Its 1,366- by 768-resolution is also second best
compared to the W700P’s HD display. It can only handle up to five separate
finger inputs, but this should be plenty for most classroom uses. It worked
with gestures and an off-the-shelf stylus; the tablet didn’t come with a pen.

Below the
screen is a handy Windows Home button. Around its edge there are buttons for
turning the system on and off as well as adjusting the volume and locking the
screen orientation.

Its
components are a step or two down from the W700P’s set up. Powered by Intel’s dual-core
Atom Z2760 1.8GHz processor, the system lacks compatibility with DirectX 10 software.
The system comes with 2GB of RAM and a 64GB solid state storage system, all less
than the W700P provides. It does have security-conscious TPM hardware, though.

There’s also
a pair of cameras on the Latitude 10: a 2-megapixel device up front for video
chats as well as an 8-megapixel camera in the back for taking pictures and
videos. It has a pair of speakers but the Latitude 10 lacks the W700P’s Dolby audio
enhancements.

The slate
itself has an SD card slot as well as a USB 3.0 port and an audio jack. It can
connect with 802.11n WiFi networking and Bluetooth built-in. The system worked
with a USB and wireless keyboard. On the downside, the slate on its own can’t
be used to project or connect to a monitor.

That’s where
Dell’s $120 cradle comes in. More desk-centric than the W700P’s dick, it
securely holds the system horizontally, but not vertically. It has four USB
ports, one of which is conveniently up front for instant-access items like a memory
key or charging a phone. There’s also HDMI, audio and LAN connections. Like the
W700P, it lacks WiDi for wirelessly sending images and audio to a projector.
The system I looked at included a wireless mouse and keyboard set that adds $40
to the price tag.

To no
surprise, the Latitude 10’s performance was a distant second compared to the
W700P, a direct result of using Intel’s low-power Atom processor and 2GB of
RAM. It scored a dismal 262.8 and couldn’t complete the benchmark’s DirectX 10
testing.

On the other
hand, it’s a long distance runner, with the Latitude 10’s 4,050 milliamp hour
battery able to go for 9 hours and 32 minutes on a charge. That’s four hours
longer than the W700P’s battery life. In fact, it ran so long that it might be
able to handle several days of use in the classroom without a recharge.

Right-sized
for small hands, the Latitude 10 falls short on performance. Plus, if you add
up all the extras that the W700P provides (like the case, dock, stylus, more RAM, larger storage, longer warranty and
Windows Pro), the Latitude 10 costs about $950, putting them roughly on a par
with each other.

Ever have gifted or lagging students fall into the cracks? Blackboard’s Retention Center lets teachers and administrators track every student’s progress in an easy to view format. The new software is part of the company’s Learning Management System and it puts any at-risk student in your face with up-to-date performance, missed deadlines and poor grades.

Hardware is
nothing without good software and Epson now sells Promethan ActivInspire
educational software with its BrightLink projectors. The package costs $299
with new projectors or for existing customers.

Many
districts have adopted using Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 to save money
over the traditional software version, but they’ve found it hard to manage and
administer. Enter Command 365, an online service that can make Office 365
easier to handle. Command 365 works on any connected computer and not only
provides good oversight as to which users are doing what but it can make tasks
like setting up permissions and creating complex reports a snap. The service costs
5 cents per user per month and there are volume discounts available and there’s
a free trial available.

Brain Parade’s
See.Touch.Learn is a great way for coaxing Autistic kids to come out of their
shells and start learning. Picture-based, the free app runs on the iPad and replaces
clunky static flash cards with groups of pictures shown on the pad's screen. The latest
version provides access to visual libraries and lessons. You can even create
your own lesson for special cases. It’s available as a free download from the
iTunes App store.

Sony’s K12
Educational Ambassador program has lots of teaching resources, from several
apps that can help students with their writing assignments to teaching about
physics through building bridges. In fact, if you have good ideas about using
technology in the classroom, you can apply to be an ambassador.

If classroom clickers are burning a hole in your budget,
eInstruction’s Ping features radio-frequency communication and has a wide range
of abilities yet cost $995 for a class pack of 24 with a receiver and software;
extra clickers are $55 each. It has a range of 150-feet and can be used with
true-false, yes-no and multiple-choice formats. It lacks an LCD screen but
confirms that the answer has been received with an LED light. The system works
with the company’s Insight 360 scheme.